SS Shinyō Maru (春洋丸) was built in Nagasaki in 1911 by Mitsubishi Dockyard & Engine Works.

Shinyo Maru was powered by thirteen Scotch boilers providing steam for three sets of Parsons turbines for 17,000 horsepower.

The career of the Chiyo Maru was curtailed in April 1916, when she ran aground in fog, off Hong Kong, and was damaged beyond repair.

However, the company found it difficult to compete during the slump of the 1920s and was taken over by the larger Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).

The Shinyo Maru continued, with her sister-ship, for several years under NYK management, before being laid up in 1932.